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Issaquah
Dance
Theatre
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Committed to the art of
dance for all ages and abilities.
"A
good teacher explains ... A superior teacher demonstrates ...
A GREAT teacher inspires." ~William Arthur Ward
Staff and Faculty
Alicia Parrish
Director, Owner,
Ballet, Conditioning, Children's Classes, Certified Gyrotonic®
Trainer
Alicia has been teaching classical ballet for over 16 years.
Dancing since the age of 5, she studied in the Bay Area at notable classical
ballet schools including the Santa Clara Ballet, San Jose Dance Theatre, Western
Ballet, and the Oakland Ballet under the direction of Ron Guidi where by the age
of 13, was attending company classes. She trained extensively under
Maggie Parungau-Ferla at Dance Theatre
International, who gave her opportunities to perform and teach alongside the highest caliber of world class dancers and
teachers from world renowned companies such as the Hamburg Ballet, Ballet Bejart,
San Francisco Ballet, Bolshoi Ballet, Lines Contemporary Ballet and many others.
This is where Alicia first began teaching. During this time she also
studied with teachers such as Christine Elliott, Shannon Bresnahan, Rodney
Gustafson, and Aturo Fernandez. She has performed soloist roles in ballets
such as A Midsummer’s Night Dream, Sleeping Beauty, productions of The
Nutcracker and others where she was able to perform with wonderful artists such
as Yannis Adoniou and Xavier Ferla.
Deciding to redirect her life to focus on motherhood,
Alicia relocated to the Seattle area in 2000. Noticing that the Eastside
had limited opportunities available for those who would love to dance, Alicia
started Issaquah Dance Theatre and began to teach locally while attending
classes at PNB, Spectrum Dance Theater and Ballet Bellevue.
In 2005, Alicia’s love of movement drew her to train to become a
certified GYROTONIC® Trainer under Master Trainer Karen Mullen, which in turn
enhances her qualifications as a dance and movement educator and allows her to
work with dancers to condition their bodies outside of class and on a
therapeutic level.
In 2006
Alicia founded the collaborative Non Profit Organization,
'Eastside Youth Dance Theatre' and directed the 2006 and 2008 full length
productions of "The Nutcracker" here on the Eastside.
Her teaching strengths lie in developing
technically precise, dynamic dancers and intelligent movers, who will learn to develop a
deep understanding of their bodies, a love for dance, and most importantly help
her students hopefully grow to be responsible, good people. She truly
loves working with children and families, so this has been the focus here at IDT. She is known for her passionate,
inspirational and energetic approach to teaching students of all ages, and truly
believes in helping individuals nurture their love of dance!
Alicia's most important and rewarding job of all is that of being a wife to her
amazing husband and co owner, Scott, and mother to
her three children ages 15, 11 and 2.
Megan Adams Adult
Cardio Jazz
Megan Adams has
over 15 years of teaching experience. She’s studied modern, ballet,
jazz, musical theatre, and hip hop at UW, Cornish, Westlake,
Spectrum, and many other outstanding studios. As a dancer, Megan’s
performed at Village Theatre, Sign of the Times, Battle of Seattle,
En Lair and many other regional performances. She’s been a member of
In-Effect, Breed, and Cruz Control. Megan’s also choreographed close
to 20 musicals, Westlake performances, and The SeaGals. When she’s
not dancing, she’s hosting her TV show “Home In On It” which you can
see on Comcast On-Demand. Megan will be teaching Cardio Jazz
for adults on Wednesday mornings and will serve as a regular
substitute teacher for us this year at IDT. Welcome Megan!
Emily Andres Ballet,
Children's Classes
Bio Coming Soon
 Laura Berry Ballet/Children's Classes
Laura Berry received her
foundation of ballet training from Brigitte DeCalle, a principal
dancer from the Kirov Ballet of Russia. In addition, Ms. Berry
trained with the Joffery Ballet School, the Milwaukee Ballet School,
and the Ham Berge Ballet of Germany. She completed her training at
Pacific Northwest Ballet School after which she opened her own
children’s ballet school in Tacoma, Classical Youth Ballet. During
the school’s nineteen year history, Ms. Berry received many
prestigious national awards for her choreography. Under her sole
direction, the school put on many full length children’s productions
such as The Nutcracker, Cinderella, Innocence, and A Tribute to
Mozart. Ms. Berry is trained and certified in early childhood
psychological development and is thrilled to be joining the Issaquah
Dance Theatre artistic team!
 Elizabeth Bray
Ballet/Children's Classes
From San Diego, CA, Elizabeth
danced with the California Ballet and New West Ballet where she
performed principal and soloist roles in Ballets such as The
Nutcracker and Coppelia among many others. She taught and
choreographed there and at Palomar College. She later continued to
dance as a student at Northern Arizona University. Elizabeth is a
mother of two and a mom here at IDT. After taking some time away to
focus on the most important job of being a mother, dance has come
back into her life after meeting Melissa Gould and joining her New
Vision Dance Company 3 years ago.
 Julie Britten
Children's
Classes
Julie has been dancing for
over 20 years and has owned and directed a school of her own.
She holds a degree in elementary education and has years of experience teaching Ballet, Jazz, Tap, Lyrical,
Contemporary, Pre Dance and Acrobatics. She truly loves working with children!
Julie just started a full time job as a new mom to her sweet little
addition, baby Noah. We look forward to having Julie back
after her maternity leave later this year!
 Danelle Brust-Watson
Modern,
Contemporary, Lyrical, Ballet, Jazz, Tap, Children's Classes
Danelle is
both instructor and AXiS Dance Company founder at IDT. She started studying dance and gymnastics at the age
of 2 from her mother, who has run a large successful
dance school in Indiana for over 30 years. She received
a BFA from the State University of New York at Purchase
and performed in several companies in New York City. She
has performed works by Mark Morris, Martha Graham,
Balanchine, Jose Limon, Paul Taylor, Kevin Wynn, and
many others. Her choreography for students received
numerous awards including best choreography and high
scoring numbers at national competitions and has served
as a judge at regional talent competitions. She
is also on the faculty at Spectrum Dance Theatre and is a
licensed
massage practitioner from The National Holistic Institute in CA and
through the State of Washington. She is truly passionate as a
teacher for students of all ages. Danelle will be on an
extended leave of absence beginning in May while she assists her
husband in a business venture in Hawaii. We hope she enjoys
her time in the sun and anxiously await her return!
 Rhonda Cinotto
Modern, Contemporary, Jazz, Tap,
Children's Classes
Most recently
Rhonda was serving as a full time faculty member at the Western
Michigan University Dance Department teaching Modern and Jazz.
She holds a MFA in The Psychology and Ethics of Teaching and also a
BFA in Dance from the University of Washington. This fall she
will be teaching at the UW as well as ARC School of Ballet.
Her professional performing experience includes Chamber Dance
Company, several years with Spectrum Dance Theater under Wade
Madsen, Dale Merrill and Donald Byrd where she also served as
rehearsal director. Rhonda has performed countless roles by
diverse and notable choreographers over the years. That,
combined with her years of experience as a dance educator for all
ages at many notable schools, she is truly an asset to any dance
faculty. We are thrilled to have her working with students
here at IDT!
Natalie Dukane
Hip Hop, Jazz
Natalie was born in Seattle, Washington and started dancing at ripe
age of three. Her background includes ballet, jazz, modern,
contemporary, tap, and hip-hop. By the time she was 17 years old,
she was already teaching hip hop classes here on the Eastside
until she moved on as a student at the University of Idaho studying
Dance and Economics, where during her tenure there, she continued to
teach hip hop and jazz.
In addition to attending national dance conferences, Natalie has
worked with many well-known choreographers including Elmer Pizarro,
Tabitha and Napolean Dumo, Rhonda Miller, Kirsten Cooper, and Donald
Shorter. She has also worked with modern dance companies including
Lineage Dance and hip-hop groups Breed and Cruz Control. For the
past four years, Natalie has been a featured choreographer at the
Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival.
Melissa Gould
AXiS Liaison Director and
Choreographer. Contemporary,
Lyrical, Jazz, Tap, Modern, Hip Hop, Musical Theater
Melissa Gould is a graduate of San Jose State University where she
received her Bachelor’s Degree in Dance and was voted "Best
Choreographer". She has been a dance teacher for studios in San Jose
and Las Vegas where many of her dance troupes won National
Championships. During her professional dance career she performed in
Japan, Korea, Las Vegas, Lake Tahoe, Guam and for Norwegian Cruise
Lines. She is a Musical Theatre lover and has choreographed over a
dozen shows for city theatre groups and high schools. Her
choreography has been seen in several dance concerts, musicals,
nightclub revues, fashion shows and choreography showcases. Her
passion for inspiring young dancers led her to create youth dance
companies in San Jose and Las Vegas with repertories including jazz,
tap, lyrical, hip-hop, musical theatre and modern works. A dance
instructor for 22 years, Melissa has students who are now performing
professionally themselves in music videos, Las Vegas productions and
NFL and NBA cheerleading squads. She most recently was a member of
the dance faculty of the Washington Academy of Performing Arts in
Redmond. Melissa is known for her intense dance style, challenging
classes and entertaining choreography.
 Robyne Henderson
Children's Classes
Robyne has been teaching and
working with children for well over 20 years. She has a B.A. from
Cal State Fullerton in Musical Theatre, and has studied dance at
many studios including Danceworks International Summer School in
London, Debbie Reynolds Dance Studio in Los Angeles, and West Lake
Dance Center right here in Seattle. She’s spent many years teaching
creative movement, ballet, tap, and jazz dance classes, music,
drama, acting, and musical theatre classes, has been a substitute in
the public school system, and has even taught horseback riding
lessons for kids. Robyne created Kidjammers, a unique music and
movement program, which she teaches occasionally as a summer
program, and in workshop format. She’s been a mom for over eleven
years.
She has also enjoyed a career as a professional performer. A member
of the Actors’ Equity Association, Robyne has performed all over the
U.S. in musicals and plays. She has sung with several jazz and pop
bands, and has appeared in commercials and films. Currently, Robyne
performs professionally with Split Second Improv at Second Story Rep
in Redmond. She also does children’s theatre and musicals locally.
She has spent a lot of time in the recording studio at McGraw-Hill
creating voices for interactive learning videos. Last year, she
spent the holiday season dancing and caroling along “Snowflake Lane”
in downtown Bellevue.
Xaviera Vandermay
Contemporary, Jazz, Lyrical,
Modern, Hip Hop
A Seattle native, Xaviera
first found her love of dance at age five. The majority of her dance
schooling was completed at the Pacific Northwest Ballet School and
Washington Academy of Performing Arts. She also studied on
scholarship at Gyrotonic Seattle, Spectrum Dance Theater, Giordano
Dance Center and Joel Hall Dance Center.
Ms. Vandermay has been teaching professionally since 2001. She
loves instructing all ages in jazz, lyrical, ballet, ballroom,
contemporary, creative movement and hip-hop. Her pursuits also
include choreography and she directed her own pre-professional
contemporary company, LOA: Dance Project for the last 5 years. Her
choreography has received many awards and honors including
Innovation in Choreography awarded in 2006 by Dance Educators of
America.
Xaviera toured and performed professionally in the U.S. and Mexico
with Spectrum Dance Theater (2000-03) under the direction of Donald
Byrd and former directors Dale A Merrill and Wade Madsen. She has
also performed in the 2003 Seattle Neil Young Engagement and with
premier hip-hop dance company Street Level Dance. During her four
year stint in Chicago she had the pleasure of performing with GI
Alliance and independent choreographer Duwane Pendarvis. She also
starting her best role, being a mama, in Chicago and looks forward
introducing her son to the Pacific Northwest!
Lauren Hoskins
Hip Hop
Lauren has been teaching since the young age of 16! Once Lauren
graduated high school she started picking up teaching gigs from many
Bay Area studios which filled her full time schedule. She danced in
her first music video for the popular Dominican Republic band "IDIC",
and and eventually did another. On stage she was a lead in the
musical, "A Woman, A Gift" as a Tap dancing gang member. The
start of her dance company career was with an all girl group
company, "Elemental Remix", then moved on to the renowned "Funkanometry
SF." Before moving and during her two year stay in Los Angeles,
Lauren has produced/directed a yearly dance showcase featuring
companies like Booftroop, Funkanometry, Quest (winner's of ABDC
season 2), as well as her students.
Once in Los Angeles in 2007 she started teaching movement and dance
to disabled adults for TV shows such as ER, Saving Grace and many
more. Lauren also choreographed and danced with the award winning
dance company "Disruption", and taught famous children including
Kimora Lee's daughter, Aoki. She continues her love for teaching, as
well as a new passion of photography. Check out her work at
www.laurenhoskinsphotography.com. Lauren loves enriching lives
through dance!
 Danela Lewis
Ballet
Danela is an accomplished dancer, instructor and choreographer.
She has trained with the Palos Verdes Ballet, San Francisco Ballet
School, Joe Tremaine and the Pacific Northwest Ballet School. She
has performed with various dance companies including San Francisco
Ballet, Bella Lewitzski Company and the Henry Mancini Dancers.
Danela has participated in workshops with Tandy Beal, The Moving
Company, Alwin Nikolais, Joe Bennet, and Pilobolus. She has taught
at various schools in the Pacific Northwest including the
International School of Ballet in Kirkland, Olympic Ballet, served
as Artistic Director at the Ballet Arts Center in Bellevue, and has
participated in Artist in Residency programs. Danela was a
member of Dance Educators of America from 1975-1982 and provided
movement training for the 1984 United States Men’s Downhill Ski
Team. Her experience, energy and love of dance inspire all who dance
with her!
 Sally Lowell
Ballet, Children's Classes
Sally has been dancing for over 40 years. She trained at
Oakland Ballet, Houston Ballet and with various teachers in London.
Her stage experience includes performances with the Oakland Ballet.
She holds a RAD teaching certificate from both the children's
levels and the Majors (pre-professional) Levels. She has
served as Director of ballet schools in
California for 10 years, taught at Berkeley Ballet Theatre, East Bay
Center for the Performing Arts, Island Youth Ballet on Mercer
Island, and has choreographed for and directed two youth
companies. She brings to IDT many years of experience
and knowledge as a teacher and developing syllabus for all ballet
levels. She is known for her calm energy in classes, as well
as very creative children's classes where all escape into an
imaginary theme for the day!
Scott Parrish, B.A., LMP, CSP,
Reiki Master Teacher,
Co-Owner
From San Jose, CA; Scott was a member of the “South Side Breakers”,
a break dancing squad in the SF Bay Area, and danced with the
performing dance group “Soul Fathers.” At this time he pursued
interests as an MC (rap artist), spending four years in the
music industry working with various producers and performing at many
venues when he went on to produce
and release his own single in the group, “Triple da Soul”,
called “My Inspiration,"
opening for “Naughty by Nature” in the early 90's.
Scott substitute teaches for our hip
hop classes at IDT.
In the meantime, he is an
extremely skilled and respected massage therapist and body worker
holding his biology degree from UC Santa Cruz...
where he greatly misses the surf!
 Laura Peterson
Tap, Jazz, Modern
Laura Peterson has been sharing her knowledge, skills and
experiences with Puget Sound dance students since 1992. She received
a Bachelors of Art in Dance from the University of Washington and a
Master's in Dance Science from Laban in London, UK. Laura has been
seen on stage performing with such companies as Lehua Dance Theatre,
Arc Dance Productions and the Seattle Symphony. She has also worked
with such celebrated choreographers as Wade Madsen, Mark J. Kane,
Mark Haines and Rain Ross. Laura emphasizes sound anatomical
practices within her classes as well as encouraging the art of
performing. Laura is honored to teach with the IDT faculty on a
substitute basis.
Rachel Randall
Modern
Rachel was born in
Biggleswade, England and has danced professionally in London, Ghana,
Yakima, and Seattle. When she isn't dancing, she is catching
flying children at the School of Acrobatics and New Circus Arts!
Rachel is passionate about dance, choreography, and making dance
films. Her third dance film, “Green Triangle/Poopy Park,” done in
collaboration with Nathan Vass and Joyce Liao was recently shown at
Velocity’s Next Dance Cinema Festival. She is an alumnus of the
Laban Center in London, and the University of Washington where she
danced choreography by Martha Graham and Alwin Nickolias with the
Chamber Dance Company and won the 2007 award for outstanding
achievement in choreography for her work “Living Shadows.” Before
going to college Rachel danced with two all Ghanaian dance companies
while living in Ghana West Africa for a year. Rachel currently
performs with Tessee George’s Dance Contemporary, and Cyrus
Khambatta’s Phffft Dance Theatre Company. She has just started her
own company, RandAll Dance, and is excited to be putting on a show
in her hometown of Yakima WA. Between these three companies Rachel
has performed in the Artopia festival, Beyond the Threshold
International Dance Festival, Park Dance, and the Arts in Nature
Festival. Other recent performances include performing in Santa
Monica, CA, with Dance Contemporary, with Andre Feriante at Beneroya
Hall, at the Meydenbauer Theatre in Chop Shop, and the Seattle
Opera’s production of Iphigenia in Tauris at McCaw Hall. She is
excited to be sharing her passion for dance with the community of
Issaquah Dance Theatre!
 Kelsey Jamieson Ruth
Tap
Kelsey holds a minor in Dance
and a Psychology degree at the University of Washington and teaches
the art of movement all over the eastside. She began dancing
at the age of three and her repertoire has been expanding ever
since! Kelsey was part of a competitive tap team from the age
of five through the age of sixteen. She spent her high school and
college years participating in many musicals and plays. Kelsey has
been the assistant choreographer for several musicals and she takes
every opportunity available to make her ideas take life through
dance. She has also studied acting, voice, and yoga, and hopes
to incorporate these things into her classes in order to foster a
unique style and wide appreciation of the arts in each of her
students. Kelsey truly loves working with individuals of all
ages!
 Jennifer Schreiber
Tap,
Jazz, Lyrical, Children's Classes
Jennifer grew up in the
Seattle area and has been studying all forms of dance for the past
20 years. She graduated from Oklahoma City University with a
Bachelor of Performing Arts in Dance Performance. While at OCU she
was privileged to study tap under Robert L. Reed, perform the
opening ceremony at the 2007 Rose Bowl parade with Kristen
Chenoweth, and take master classes with a few of the great Tap
Masters including Jimmy Slide, Ernest “Brownie” Brown, and Arthur
Duncan. She has performed and taught locally and recently returned
from her second ship with Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines where she
performed as a dancer and flyer/aerialist. Jennifer is excited to
share her passion of dance with the students at IDT.
Stephen Seo
Lyrical, Jazz, Hip Hop
Stephen Seo, represented by
DDO Artists Agency, recently returned to Seattle after working on
his Bachelor of Arts degree at UCLA for the last four years. He has
trained and worked with some of the world's best in jazz,
contemporary, lyrical, hip-hop, jazz-funk, modern, and ballet. He
has performed in shows all over including, Carnival: The
Choreographers Ball, UCLA’s undergrad dance concert, Meyer Christmas
Parade in Melbourne, Australia, and UCLA’s coveted, student-produced
fashion show. In 2007, he started his own company, "FastCoLA,” which
has performed at various functions through out Los Angeles
including: Heartthrob at House of Blues, Tigerheat at Avalon, Hammer
Museum’s Winter Abstractions, Anderson School of Management’s Spring
Fashion Show, and Relay for Life. In 2008, he spent six months in
Australia, teaching dance at Victoria College of the Arts’ Secondary
School, a feeder school to The Australian Ballet Company. He has
taught and choreographed for numerous schools and organizations all
over California and Australia, such as: a full time dance academy
for aspiring professional commercial dancers, La Quinta High School
in southern California, Chico Creek Dance Center in northern
California, NSU Modern in Los Angeles, Full Force Hip-Hop Company,
and Melbourne Music Academy. In addition, he participated in the
taping of a pilot for an MTV dance reality show "Dance Justice," and
worked with Marguerite Derricks and Tovaris Wilson as an alternate
dancer on Lifetime’s show, Your Mama Don’t Dance. He has also danced
on Paris by Night and Van Son as a back-up dancer for Vietnamese pop
stars.
Lisa Sheppard Shipman
Ballet
Lisa grew up in Tucson and
studied ballet with Richard France & George Zoritch. She was part of
Tucson Civic Ballet and became a corps member with Tucson Ballet at
age 16. She twice won the Arizona Ballet Competition.
After leaving Tucson, she danced with Pennsylvania Ballet,
Pittsburgh Ballet, and Ballet Austin as a soloist, and then returned
to Ballet Arizona as a principal dancer. She was a frequent guest
artist of Ruth Page’s Nutcracker in Chicago as well as many small
companies through out the US.
Lisa started teaching at the age of 16, entering Ballet Arizona’s
teacher training program, and continued teaching while dancing
professionally. She studied on a significant basis with Warren
Conover, Larry Long, Lupe Serrano, Fred Stroebel, Ben Harkarvey and
Ben Stevenson. After retiring as a dancer, she moved to Chicago and
taught at many area schools including Lou Conte’s, Ruth Page
Foundation, Barat College and Northwestern University. After many
years of teaching, she opened her own large studio of 1200+ students
from 1996 - 2005. She sold the business to two of her former
employees and continues to teach there as a guest.
Lisa has recently relocated
here to the Eastside from Florida with her husband and 11 year old
daughter. We are delighted to have her join the IDT faculty!
Kellsie Steele
Hip Hop, Jazz,
Summer Cheer Programs
Kellsie Steele has studied dance for 19 years, performing nationally
in jazz, modern, ballet, tap, lyrical, and hip hop from the age of
3. As a student at Eastside Catholic High School, she was honorary
captain of the varsity cheerleading team and was twice awarded the
title "All American Cheerleader" from the National Cheerleading
Association and invited to perform at the Hula Bowl. She was also
captain of both her Dance and Cheerleading team for 2 years while
attending Saint Mary's College of California where she additionally
had the opportunity to perform for a national television audience
during the NCAA basketball tournament. Subsequently, Kellsie took
her talents to the NFL, successfully auditioning and being selected
a member of the San Francisco 49ers Goldrush professional
cheerleading and dance team. In addition to performing nationally
with the Goldrush, Kellsie also had the opportunity to showcase her
talents on Goldrush tours to Japan and China. She has also had the
pleasure of training under the direction of two of the former
directors of The San Francisco 49ers Goldrush Lori Buffalow, and
Rachel Jackson, as well as nationally accredited choreographers Greg
Russell, Andrew Vacca, and Jeannine Sabo. Kellsie holds a Bachelors
degree in Communications and has taught at multiple dance academies
and schools in both San Francisco and Seattle.
Dustin Levi Stewart
Jazz, Contemporary, Lyrical
Bio coming soon!
Alli Dodt
Student Apprentice Teacher
and IDT Senior Student
Alisa Rasmusson
Pre School and
Kindergarten Classes
Student Apprentice Teacher
and IDT Senior Student
Cindy Klenk ZUMBA Instructor
Time to ditch that hum-drum
workout and get your party on! Time to Zumba! Zumba Fitness® is the
way to have fun AND meet your fitness goals! And I am here to help
you meet those goals, AND have a blast doing it, to some of the most
outrageous Latin and world beats and rhythms on the planet! People
finish my class wanting more!
Need to know how to dance? NO! Need to know all the steps? NO! You
DO need to want to have fun and get a great workout!! So grab your
smile,workout clothes, shoes, and your water bottle! Time to Zumba!!
A little about me:
* I LOVE Zumba!
* I LOVE to teach Zumba!
* I LOVE my Zumba Students!
* Been dancing and moving for my entire life (classically trained
ballet, tap, jazz, modern, and danced with 4 regional ballet
companies)
What more do you need to know! So now - Time to Party, Time to Zumba!
Valerie Lines
Classical Lines
Photography
April Phillips, Amy Thompson
Production /Stage Managers
Margie Teman Live Accompanist
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